There are a wide variety of cutlery, i.e., knives, which range in size, shape and purpose. However, knives can generally be categorized under two forms: knives that have a fixed blade and knives that have foldable or otherwise removable blade. Regardless of the type of knife, the common element among all knives is a bladed, i.e. sharp, edge capable of cutting through materials. Consequently, while the bladed edge of a knife is present, the knife creates a clear and present danger to the user of the knife and to those around him. This danger is especially serious when an inexperienced user, such as a child, wields the knife.
Additionally, a knife is only as useful as the sharpness of the bladed edge. To ensure the life and effectiveness of the knife, the knife must be safely and properly stored. If improperly stored, the blade edge may dull, chip or otherwise degrade from exposure to, e.g., water, chemicals or hard surfaces. Thus, unlike a foldable knife, knives with fixed blades, such as chef knives, must be stored away in a safe container, such as a knife block. However, present day containers, such as traditional knife blocks, are easily accessible to children because they have no locking mechanism. Additionally, present day containers are typically bulky and burdensome to carry for the purposes of protecting, for example, a single knife.
Therefore, what is desired is a knife guard that is capable of safely storing a fixed blade knife, such as a chef knife, while being easily accessible to trained users and while being substantially inaccessible to untrained users, such as children. When the teachings of the disclosure herein is used in combination with traditional knives, especially those knives having a blade wider than the handle, the disclosure overcomes one or more of the disadvantages referenced above by providing a knife guard having a movable flap securable via a child proof lock to inhibit a child from removing an encased knife.